The War of Mewni
by SirFrancis303
Summary: Star is forced to return to Mewni by her mother Queen Moon. Leaving her life on Earth behind she returns home to fight off Toffee and his armies but in doing so releases a darker, more powerful magic onto the universe. Queen Eclipsa has returned, more powerful than ever. This story is meant as a more adult version of the events of 'The Battle for Mewni' TV special.
1. To Butterfly Sanctuary

The night was silent and the moons shone softly, their gentle light offering little illumination for the world under its gaze, instead casting a beautiful but slight blue hue to the forest below. The land was peaceful and the Stars littered the dark space above, providing the perfect background for the ethereal beauty that was the Mewnian evening sky. The planet was in slumber and plants littered the land, creating a beautiful habitat for the various creatures that called it home. Its tallest trees high enough to touch the clouds and thick enough to house a family of four, its smallest plants as beautiful as they are fragile. During the day the forest would be alive with colour and energy, a cacophony of sounds acting as a marvellous morning call for the neighbouring kingdom. Now though it rested, the night was still, the forest was calm and the planet rested. All is well…

"STAAAR!" A voice cut through the still like a great sword through flesh, carrying for miles around, hushed though it was. "We're almost there but you need to keep it down in there, no one can know we're here and you never know when someone might be listening."

A lone carriage rocketed down an old dirt path, carving through the forest with incredible speeds. Its driver and lone passenger, Queen and Princess of Mewni, followed the usually hidden path through the forest in great haste. The secret path was now marked by a number magical constructs, waist height pillars with glowing blue diamond at the tip. They needed to get to their destination before it was too late.

"I know mom, I know" the passenger and princess of Mewni, Star Butterfly, huffed in return clearly not taking the warning particularly seriously. Casting one last forlorn back at her magic wand and the projection of her once best-friend and recently crush conjured by the dark magic of the spying spell. She watched him for a moment longer. His head was downcast and his lips pulled into what seemed a permanent frown. His hair and clothing were terribly messy, clearly not having been a priority for a while. What hurt Star the most though despite his terribly appearance, were his eyes.

While his face may have never been expressive as her own, it was his eyes that she always loved the most about him. 'Eyes are the window to the sole' and nowhere was this more true than with Marco Diaz of Earth. No matter what bravado he put up, whatever trick he tried to play or cover he tried to tell his eyes always gave him away. She always loved them, she loved their warmth and their gentle nature. She loved the way they lit up whenever they rested on her, she loved the way they always told her what his mouth could not or would not. His eyes were so vitally important to who he was, always warm and always caring and affectionate, especially to her, regardless of what ever she put them through. But now they were sad and dull and it was she who had broken them.

Once happy and joyful, now they were downtrodden and depressed. What had once been full of life was now entirely vacant of it as if it had never existed in the first place and she had done this to him. By admitting to him that she liked him and leaving his planet perhaps forever immediately afterwards without as much as a word to explain herself she had broken her best friend more than any monster or social insecurity could ever have done. But she knew it was what was best, he couldn't be involved in what she was about to do, for his sake and safety. And when she was done, her kingdom safe and the fight won, then she could go back to Earth, back to Marco. She would make things up with him, get over her feelings and they could go on being best friends. _'Hopefully…'_

"Good bye Marco…" With a heavy heart she swiped her hand through the projection and cast away the image of her best friend for perhaps the last time. No longer able to watch his suffering Star reached around her back and grabbed at the red sleeve of a hoodie she had tied around her neck like a cape before leaving, one of Marco's. Taking a fistful of the soft material for comfort she sat in the cramped carriage and allowed the tears to fall from her eyes knowing that in this moment, no one could see her weakness. She always had to be strong, be it for her parents, for her peers or for her people; she had never been able to truly be herself around anyone. There was no one who she trusted enough to see her for who she truly was, except of course for the one she had just left behind.

Tears continued to fall from her eyes for the next hour as she tried to deal with the emotional baggage and pain of leaving behind the happiness of her Earth life, the freedoms and the loves no longer available to her and may never be ever again. The Queen at the front of the warnicorn drawn carriage was guiding it threw the dense brush and trees of the forest as fast as the mewnian warnicorn could take it knowing their time was almost up. The magical beast was already beginning to tire and the carriage was beginning to falter under the speeds. But on she went, pushing down all the motherly fear she held for her daughter with a vengeance knowing that if any of them surfaced she wouldn't be able to get them and the bodies of the Magical High Commission to the Butterfly Sanctuary before the magic died and the path was lost.

Unfortunately it was not to be and in an instant their warnicorn gave its last breath before disappearing out of existence with a small pop and a cloud of smoke before the carriage did the same bringing the mother and daughter crashing to the ground and tumbling upon the now unmarked path.

Star groaned while getting up off of the ground, the pain and impact being worse for her than for the Queen because she had not expected it. Dusting what dirt she could off of her dress she looked over at her mother and asked "Mom, what on Mewni what was that?"

"That was the magic leak I've been telling you about for the past hour dear." She responds, gathering the lifeless bodies of the Magical High Commission and securing them with rope ready to be dragged behind them.

"Oh yeah um, that thing we've been talking about. I knew that." She finishes with a smile hoping to come off as convincing but knowing her mother hadn't fallen for it if the slight frown on her face was anything to go by.

"You have been listening, haven't you Star. It's really quite important."

"Of course I have mom, you were talking about the uh, um the-" Star was interrupted by her mother placing a gloved hand over her mouth and forcing her into a crouching position behind a nearby bush.

"Star look, the rats." Star gently pushed off her mother's hand looked at where she was gesturing only to see a group of seven or so chest high rats, their height marking the difference between these rats, capable of intelligence and garden variety rats which worked on more primal instincts. These ones were smaller. "They're likely only scouts, so we should just leave them be and let them report back to Ludo… Star where are you going?" Moon watched in terror as her daughter stood from their hiding place and prepared to blast the foes with her magic wand. Even worse was that as she charged up her first shot the broken Star at the centre of the wand began glowing a sickly green, just like she had seen Toffee's when she and the other now comatose members of the Magic High Commission attempted to fight him at Ludo's mountain top castle.

Quickly pulling down on her daughter's outstretched arms the Queen brought Star back to a crouching position behind their bush. "Mom what are you doing, I can take these guys."

"Star you can't use your magic right now. Toffee will find us if you do."

"Oh that's alright mom, I don't need magic for these guys." Star turned and grabbed a large stick of wood lying beneath a tree and picked it up wielding it like a club before running from their hiding spot and attacking the rat scouts before her mother could do anything to stop her.

"AAARRRRR!" And with a mighty cry Star began beating into the unsuspecting members of Ludo's army taking them down one at a time with a swing of her makeshift weapon. The rats having quickly recovered from the surprise of the Princess and the force of her began fighting back against the mewman princess. Moon stood from behind the bush and yelled to her daughter.

"Star stop this. We need to get out of here immediately I can't believe you would be so foolish to attack these scouts- oof" The rat, having just now seen the Queen turned and leapt up at the older woman successfully knocking her to the ground. They quickly began hacking at the ropes she had wrapped around her waist and attached to each of the three MHC members.

"No, the Magical High Commission! Quickly Star, we cannot lose them."

Grabbing the now severed ropes in their mouths and dashing off into the brush they left the Queen and Princess behind forcing them to chase after them. Eventually they mother and daughter duo lost sight of both the rats and the bodies trailing behind them.

"Star, I cannot believe you. Why on Mewni did you think it would be a good idea to attack scouts, now we've lost them and my magic isn't early strong enough anymore to try and find them."

"But Mo-"

"Enough Star, you've done enough for now. Just stop and let me think of a way I can get them back."

The Queen began pacing back and forth trying to think of any way to follow the beasts or where they might have gone. Despite a lack of footprints or trails of any kind she continued searching. Moon kept pacing up and down the small clearing trying to think of anything they could do to help themselves; they had lost their carriage, their path and the Magical High Commission all within an hour. How could their scenario possibly get any – No she refused to think like that knowing that doing so would just be jinxing themselves into a more terribly situation later. What could she do, what could she do, what could she-

"It's this way mom, follow me." Moon looked up in surprise at her daughter only to see her already confidently walking ahead through the forests trees and bushes. Seeing no reason to argue she followed suit, walking at an equal pace only a foot or two behind. She stopped when Star stopped and walked when she walked and so the two walked at a moderate pace for the better part of a half hour before reaching a small clearing centred around a massive tree far bigger than any of the surrounding flora. And at the very top of the tree were the three remaining members of the MHC.

"Did your father teach you that Star, how to track I mean?"

"No. Dad's family only hunt for eating so they never learnt how to hunt for animals to small to leave tracks. The rats were too small so there weren't any foot prints or anything. What I did was what I learnt while I was on Earth ' _sniff'_ Marco taught it to me."

Satisfied with her answer but feeling slightly guilty at her daughters saddened ton Moon walked ahead to the base of the tree and as she got closer she began to get a better view of the thing. Its trunk was massive and covered in vines and at the top among the leaves and branches were skeletons, be it bones ribs or skulls the tree had clearly been the final resting place for plenty monster animal or mewman alike.

Star caught up with her mother, the both of them standing at the base of the behemoth, before she leaned towards her, tilted her little head and looked at her with her big eyes and heart shaped cheek marks before saying with a singsong voice just filled with excitement, "Well I guess we're going up."

"Ughh, fine," and with that Moon pulled apart a hole in the vines at the bottom and walked through the makeshift entrance into the hollow insides. As she walked she occasionally had to pull her arms or legs away from the walls and the grabby vines that resided there.

"Never listens to her mother…" the Queen grumbled beneath her breath just loud enough for her daughter to hear.

And so the two began climbing the tree daughter following mother as the got closer and closer to the top.

"Ugh, come on mom, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is your recklessness has put us in harm's way."

The Queen let out a small grunt as she lifted herself up the tree and past a decomposed corpse that had gotten stuck in the trees vines, though this one was wearing an oddly large but torn purple hat, almost like a fedora.

"It's just a little danger." Star argued back against her mother, her tone showing just as much annoyance as the Queens. When Star reached the heat wearing skeleton she stopped , put the hat on her head and whispered "I've been in way worse than this." She nudges the skeletons ribs knocking off its lower jaw. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Hmmmff, hmmmff." Star jumped up to the next branch only to find her mother being held against the tree trunk almost entirely covered in vines and struggling to get free.

"Huh, mom!." She jumped to where she was being held and grabbed at the vines holding her down. With a great heave she pulled them off of the tree and freed her mother from their grasp.

With eyes full of concern she leant down and helped her mother up into a standing position. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Star, now let's just get the Magical High Commission and get out of here."

The two continued on up the tree thankfully without incident and reached the top where the MHC members were being securely held down by the tree. It took about five minutes but eventually the duo managed to free them from their bindings before sitting for a moment and just taking a rest.

It was when Moon looked out upon the horizon that she noticed the faintest of blue glows up ahead. Not quite believing her own luck, the Queen climbed further up the tree ignoring all of her daughters arguably justified questions. It was only once she had reached the top that she saw in the distance what was easily the best thing she'd seen all day. It was unmistakable in its elegance and beauty, even from afar she could tell it apart from any other body of water. It was the Butterfly Sanctuary.

Knowing that the lake was only a little further ahead eased Moons nerves a great deal. The largest of her problems had been dealt with. She knew where they were going and she had the MHC now all that they had to do was get there. Star, who had followed her mother up the tree gazed in wonder at the sight before them and recognized its significance.

"Is that where we're going?"

"Yes Star, that's where we need to go."

And so the two began the long and exhausting task of taking the heavy and comatose bodies of the MHC down the tree and through the forest. Slowly but surely, inch by inch the two dragged their companions behind them as they navigated their way towards the Butterfly Sanctuary. Even as their muscles began to burn, as the oxygen left their lungs and as their legs begged them to give up and rest, the mother and daughter continued on, knowing the fate of their entire nation relied on their success, not just here but in the week's maybe even months to come.

It was hours later when the two arrived at the hiding place of the Sanctuary, their bodies screaming in agony, but still they stood knowing they needed to stay strong, if not for themselves then for each other. An alligator, the only creature in sight walked up to the Queen.

Trying to lighten the mood Star joked to her mother, "So mom, is that like the little Sanctuary guardian or something?"

"No Star, it's the Gatekeeper." With that the Queen fell to her knees and began communicating with the creature, asking for entrance to her families most sacred place.

"Wait what? Mom, are you being serious?"

A bright orb of light flew up from the centre of the lake and flew over to Queen Moon and came to a rest just in front of her face, as if it was testing her or something. Her mother Stared straight into the light not blinking or even reacting in any way even once. When the orb glowed a bright blue with an odd purple tint and moved over to Star she realized that it was a test, likely to check whether they were really Butterfly's.

As it Stared at her she felt her very soul being pulled at, an odd but not entirely uncomfortable feeling that the orb must have been using to make its test. The pull grew until it spread from in her chest to her stomach, arms, legs and then finally into the head until the feeling had encompassed her entire being. It seemed to take forever but eventually the orb pulled back and glowed both pink and green, though the green patches seemed larger than the pink ones.

The whole process left Star feeling more tired than she already was and she felt her eyes getting heavy. Regardless though of how she felt the orb flew back into the centre of the lake and let of what seemed like a massive explosion under water. The next thing Star knew a beautiful building was rising from the depths as well as a rock pathway from the water's edge to what was obviously the Sanctuary's entrance.

"Come on Star, we have work to do."

The two walked across the rocks and into the building.

Star looked around in awe at the intricate engravings on the stone walls of the place seing various depictions of Queens and battles but noticed that a majority of the engravings and t=statues were of one person in particular. "Whoa, look at all the Glossaryk's"

"Yes Star, the Queens of Mewni have been coming here for generations." With that she pushed aside the large wooden doors at the end of the long rock corridor that lead from the outside to the main room at the centre of the Sanctuary. As the doors parted and Star got a better look into the room what she saw amazed her. If she was impressed before, her mind had blown up now.

The inside of the building was made of white brick circular walls and tall marble support columns. The room was like a more peaceful and perfect version of the forest outside. There was a warm light coming from the ceiling though no matter where she looked Star couldn't find the source. The ground was covered in a soft dark green grass, across the room were various different species of trees from the Bleeding Oak and Iron Wood Tree's to peaceful Umbers and Birch. There were different species of flowers and bushes spread throughout the room with magnificent stained glass windows along the walls. There was the occasional normal glass window and the roof was the same, a great glass dome that provided a stunning view of the night sky and Mewni's constellations.

The most breath taking thing in the room though was the famous Butterfly Magical Well and the waterfall that fed into it. The waterfall was a stone depiction of Glossaryk with his mouth open spewing water into the pool below, at the centre of which was a large spire. The thing was made from dark brown bricks and had moss covering the sides. It was clear no one had been here for a while. Along the side of the spire were a set of stairs circling the thing leading to the top where there was a small platform which had what looked like a hatch in the middle.

Satr watched speechless as her mother walked to the base of a tree and opened what must have been a secret hatch in the trunk revealing a large bronze wheel which she began to turn with small struggle, it was clearly rusting from lack of use. No one had been for a while indeed.

Stars attention was drawn to the pool once more when as her mother turned the wheel she saw three huge pink and white roses rise from beneath the water with their petals closed. When her mother had finished turning the wheel as far as it could go the flowers petals slowly fell open, all except one which must have gotten stuck.

"Why can't it just go right for once" she heard her mom mutter beneath her breath. "Alright, let's get the Commission into their pods so we can revive them."

Looking behind her at the bodies of the HCM she prepared herself to pick up their bodies one last time. With a great heave her mother and her carried Omnitraxus Prime, Hekapoo and Rhombulus into each of their pods where a light would shine on them from the ceiling once they were properly in place.

"Alright now Star, I'm going to open the well spring. Stand clear from the water's edge."

Star watched as her mom turned a second wheel unleashing a mighty creaking sound from the well springs spire. Four holes opened from the tower and long clay poles extended from them. Each pole was hollowed out to allow the magic wells water to flow through them but now instead of the pure liquid flowing through them the magic came out a sickly dark green and moved slowly, more like slime than anything else.

"Umm, mom is it meant to look like that?"

Moon looked up at the spire expecting the light blue waters to flow from the well, instead seeing this sickly display of magical corruption.

"No Star, it's not. Quickly we must stop it before it touches the pool below. Help me turn the wheel Star."

Star raced over towards her mother and immediately began turning the wheel with all her might, not knowing the exact consequence of the dark gloop meeting with the waters below but understanding that it was dire. The two watched the poles rise, angling upwards towards the roof before sliding back into place, the holes in the spire fixing themselves as the bricks too moved back into their original position. Moon and Star breathed a deep sigh of relief as they saw that not a drop had landed in the beautiful waters below.

"This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good…" Moon began pacing back and forward throughout the room, repeating herself all the while. She was terrified of what the dark liquid represented for her magic and what it meant for her family, namely her daughter. Star however was forced to sit back and just watch in confusion and slight fear, seeing her normally composed and eloquent mother reduced to a wreck. Her usually pristine hair were messy and her clothes torn and damaged in places. Most frightening of all was watching her mother, for the first time in Stars relatively short life, not have any idea what to do. This alone was enough to terrify the girl, though Star knew that to get through this whole mess she'd have to be strong, strong enough for both of them.

"Mom," she began speaking softly trying to get her mothers attention without startling her in any way, "what are we going to do now?"

Her mother stopped her pacing with her back facing Star, who waited for an answer but got none.

"Mom, what are we going to do now?"

Moon still didn't answer her daughter to wrapped up in all the problems they had found themselves in, struggling to find any appropriate course of action but knowing that whatever happened she had to put her daughters needs first.

"MOM! What are we going to do?" Finally shocked out of her internal misery and back into the real world, Moon turned to face her red face daughter. Star was glad that her shouting had managed to get the attention of her mother, though felt slightly guilty at yelling sat her. She watched as her mom turned around and gasped when she saw the final straw break for the Queen of Mewni, Moon the Flawless, Moon the Undaunted.

She was crying. She was crying **hard**.

It broke her heart to see her mother like that and the usually headstrong and confident girl found herself for once not knowing what to do either. She'd never seen her mother cry before, heck she barely saw her smile, let alone full on tears.

"I don't know Star, I thought I knew but I don't. If the well had of worked I could have brought the back Hekapoo, Omnitraxus and Rhombulus so we could fight back against Toffee but it can't and neither can we!"

"But what about Lekmet, he can do it himself. All we have to do is wait for him to get her-"

"He's not coming Star."

"But you said that he'd meet us her-"

"He's **not** coming Star."

"But he has to mom, he's the Chancellor. He must know how important this is to-"

"Lekmet is **dead** Star! Lekmet is dead and Toffee killed him. Toffee murdered him in cold blood after draining him of his magic. So no, he's not coming."

Moon fell to the floor and brought her knees up to her chest as she cried, trying desperately to deal with the pain of both what had happened and what she'd do next. She just sat there for a moment ignoring her daughters pained look at Lekmet's death and questioning glances and allowed herself to feel all that she had been holding back. The pain, the anguish and the despair all of it came to the surface and none of them pleasant. Moon just sat and wept into her arms for upwards of ten minutes, all the while trying to bring herself back to reality, trying to convince her protesting body to carry on with what she had to do now.

Taking in one last deep breath, the Queen of Mewni rose to her feet, posture perfect and face masked with indifference, or at least as much as she could muster.

"Star, as the situation stands we cannot defeat Toffee. Even if we had the entirety of the Magic High Commission, our chances would be slim. Now they border line zero. And so I have decided that we must lay low until the situation changes. Unfortunately," _'Goodbye River'_ "this means we cannot return to the castle. We must stay here were we are safe."

Moon watched as her daughters face went through an array of emotions namely sadness over Lekmet's death, confusion about her mother's pessimism and finally great anger at the plan she had devised.

"What do you mean 'We can't go back to the castle?' What about daddy ha can't rule on his own. We have to go back and help him. We need to go back and help our people, we can't just abandon them. We have to help. We can go back tonight and warn them. Then we can start making a plan to stop Toffee and then we can-"

"Star we are not going back. We must stay here."

"No mom, we can't stay here were we are no use to anybody. We are going to leave right now and either go home to help daddy or find Toffee himself and kill him before he can hurt anyone else."

Star had walked right up to her mother during her rant and held her wand tightly in her right hand.

"You can't go after him Star. You are not strong enough to defeat him alone. You need help."

" **No mom** , I don't. I've defeated him before and I can to it again. I will do it again."

Star's wand began to glow with the ambient magic of her daughter, her emotions having a direct influence over the form it took and her daughter's magic was green, just like it had been when she went to take out the rats earlier.

"Star be careful. If you cast any spell Toffee will find us here. He'll come for us and then we won't be safe."

"Good, it'll save my the walk. Super Homing Flare Blas- Ough"

Stars spell was interrupted at the last second by her mother who had tackled her to the ground.

"Star don't summon him, it's not safe."

"I can handle myself mom, Marco was the safe one not me."

"It doesn't matter, you're not ready."

Moon began to wrap her daughter up in her arms refusing to let go. Any was she could protect Star she would, even if it meant restraining her like this, if only for a while.

"Dammit mom, let go of me."

"No Star you don't understand-"

With a might shove star overpowered her mother and pushed her arms off of her before standing to face her as Moon lay on the ground.

"You're right mom, I don't understand. What I don't understand is how you can be like this, especially now when Mewni needs you more than ever. Toffee is going to attack and take over our kingdom, the one we are charged with protecting. They are going to kill papa and our armies, enslave our men and women and destroy our home. This is the best case scenario as well, I won't even mention worst case, but here you are suggesting we hide, avoiding this fight, **our fight** , until it all blows over. No, I won't do it and you can't make me. You used to be the Undaunted mom, why aren't you now." Moon opened her mouth to respond but her daughter barely raised a finger for silence and continued talking.

"Our people need us more than ever, they can't stop Toffee or his armies, but we can High Commission or not we must go, we must try. It's our duty. It's your duty mom, but if you want to cower here, be my guest but I'm going to kill toffee. I ignored him once and he ended up almost killing someone I… someone I love. So I will not be a coward today mom, I will fight him, alone if I have to and when I'm done I am going back to Earth because you don't get to destroy my life like that then tell me you want me to hide. You made me reveal my feelings for Marco, feelings I had tried so hard to hide and now he may never forgive me. I may not have just lost my love but my best friend because of you. So I won't hide, you can't make me."

With that Star wiped away the tears she hadn't realised had built upon her cheeks, tightened Marco's jumper around her neck and began walking to the corridor entrance intent on leaving and taking out Toffee.

"Very well Star, go do what you need to. But before you decide what that is, let me tell you a story." Star stopped in her tracks though didn't turn to face her mom.

"Please Star, just one story, it's very important and when it's done, you can do what you need to do."

And so with that Star reluctantly walked back to her mother who began telling her the story of a Young Queen, a dark spell and an immortal lizard.


	2. Moon the Girl Queen

Monsters. They were everything that was wrong with Mewni, all of its faults and hardships wrapped up into one easy scapegoat. Monsters, the less intelligent species that was both frightening in appearance and horribly violent in nature. Monsters, the beasts that mewmans celebrated their independence and freedom from every year. The murderers and rapists of Mewni's past, the creatures their ancestors brought justice to all those generations ago.

Monsters, the vile species that poisoned these lands before the humble mewmans arrived and saved it. Monsters, the vicious creatures that our ancestors defeated and drove back into the forests in exile. Monsters, they were the villains of ever story told to us as children. They were vicious and uncaring creatures of the night, relying on darkness and the flesh of innocent mewman children to survive.

Monsters were evil.

Mewmans. They were everything that was wrong with their planet, all of its anger and suffering derived from one people. Mewmans, the more advanced species that was both frightening in appearance and horribly violent in nature. Mewmans, the beasts that taunt them with their annual celebration of the monsters greatest shame, the day their homes were stripped from them.

Mewmans, the cruel species that took their great land and destroyed it, tearing down forests for their castles and riddling fields with destruction and death. Mewmans, the fiendish species that decimated their ancestors, tearing apart their families and taking their lives. Mewmans, they were the villainous tyrants of every tale that monsters told their children. They were cruel, without moral or mercy relying on their magic and the flesh of innocent monster children to survive.

Mewmans were evil.

Evil, it was such a definitive term with such a flexible concept. A being was evil if it was immoral and wicked, cruel and unjust, but morals and justice was determined by those in power to do so. What was wicked and cruel had always been decided by those making the rules.

Good and evil, it was merely a matter of perspective, it was never set and stone like a wheel forever in motion. This race on top, then that one, then this one again and on and on and on it goes, one party always crushing those below them. Everybody's time on top was limited but always devastating.

You see, no being was ever born evil. No child is cruel and wicked until they have cruelty and wickedness thrust onto them. No man or woman is immoral or unjust because they were born that they, they had immorality and unjustness done onto them. No being, of any race was evil, until we made them that way.

The monsters were not a vile, savage race like the mewmans thought, nor were the mewmans a tyrannical, unfeeling race as the monsters believed. This was the truth and both sides had been too ignorant for too long to see beyond the lie they had created for themselves.

If only the two species had been capable of more than petty violence all those centuries ago. If only the two had been able to overcome their differences. If only the ruling parties on either side had been able to avoid genocide. If only families had not been separated by imprisonment or death. If only a peace had been cultivated between monster and mewman. If only If they had then millions of innocent lives may have been spared and generations worth of conflict and hatred avoided.

If only.

-Line Break-

It was a beautiful evening. The stars were bright and plentiful and the kingdom itself seemed more peaceful than ever. One would be forgiven for thinking that it was a perfect evening and that the mewmans living within the kingdoms walls were happy and resting. One would also be forgiven for thinking that there wasn't an army being prepped beyond those walls and that the people inside were not in fat gearing up themselves.

If only.

No, instead of the perfect night it should have been, the people of Mewni were up and busy preparing for war and mourning the death of their late Queen Aurora Butterfly. Not a soul was not saddened and not a man women or child was not mourning, every person within the walls falling to grief over the Queens death. All surrounded themselves with friends and family to get through the tough times. All except one.

Alone in the highest tower of Butterfly Castle was Moon, daughter of the late Aurora Butterfly and now the youngest queen in mewman history. She stood in silence, no father, no siblings and no friends to support her. Moon stood in her childhood room gazing down at the small painting in her hands, a portrait of her and her mother together in a gentle, loving hug. Her mother's faces was imbued with energy and alight with joy, a joy Moon hadn't seen since.

The tower had been her childhood room, furnished with the finest of items. There was a massive bed with silken sheets and blood wood frames from the bleeding tree, dresses of incredible value woven from the finest of materials and crafted by the most talented designers in all of Mewni. She had a great library filled with any and every book that had interested her, containing topics ranging from warnicorn breeding and care to various fairy tales and other stories for children.

She was surrounded by her belongings yet found that nothing mattered to her any more. There was no fun to be had in her toys or joy to be gained from her stories. All that mattered was her and her mother, after her father's death it was all that had mattered to her. As princess to Mewni she had lacked the freedom to do as she pleased. She couldn't meet people like other lords or ladies and certainly not like commoners. She couldn't do as she wished, her magic lessons and royal duties consumed every waking moment. All she ever needed was her mother's love, it was all she ever had. Not anymore.

Tears streamed down Moons face not for the first time since receiving the news of her mother's death, the pain hadn't truly eased yet, she wasn't sure it ever would. She studied her mother's face one last time, the light blue hair so similar to her own done up in a regal heart pattern, her beautiful amber shaded eyes, her gentle smile and her perfect cheek marks, blue butterflies.

Moon smiled down at her mother's image for the last time before placing the painting face down on a nearby table and staring out the bedroom window into the land beyond. Moon felt her sadness turn to fear as she looked beyond her palace walls to see the armies beyond. Their camps spread around the castle and their men occupied the tents and machineries. Monsters could be seen sharpening swords and lances, practicing archery and feasting on the raw flesh of animals from the woods beyond.

What had started as small fights against the mewmans had turned into a full rebellion against the crown faster than they could have realised. Nobody had expected the monsters to be able to group up and organize themselves in such a way, let alone lead a successful battle against trained mewman soldiers. And yet it had happened and their lack of preparation had resulted in the death of the Queen, her mother.

Moon was scared. She was the queen of a kingdom at war against an enemy force that outnumbered her own men three to one. Her people were nearly starving, their homes in ruins and their castle surrounded by monsters. And, for the first time in her life she found herself on her own, completely and utterly alone. She didn't have her mother to help her anymore. She was all Mewni had left, as its ruler and as its protector, and it terrified her.

"Your Highness, are you quite alright?"

It was Lord Mildrew, high lord of the court and member of Mewni's war council. Mildrew was a regal man, strict on rules and often very stubborn. He was dressed in light combat gear over his royal war robes, the chain mail fitting tightly around his dark blue attire. He carried a helmet under his left arm and had his right hand holding onto the handle of his still sheathed sword. He was ready for battle and he looked it.

All together Mildrew was an imposing figure, his dark clothing and armour looking quite intimidating on his tall figure despite his more wiry build. His light skin had war paint all along it and his blonde hair had been tied back to keep it out of his eyes during combat.

"Oh, Lord Mildrew. Thank you, but I'm afraid I need a bit more time alone at the moment. I'm still coming to terms with it all really."

"I'm very sorry to hear that your grace, but your presence is needed in the War Room. There is an urgent matter we need you to rule on."

Moon knew what they wanted to talk about. Now that the queen had died and a new one had taken the mantle the war council needed to know what the plan was and if it had changed under their new leadership. Moon stood straight as she could and held her hands behind her back. She needed to look strong and confident right now and shaking limbs wouldn't help in the slightest. She took a deep breath.

"Thank you but I will follow shortly, I need just a moment longer-"

"My queen, I'm afraid I must insist. You should really just come with me now. It's very important."

"I understand Lord Mildrew, but I really do need a moment longer. I shall be along shortly."

Mildrew locked eyes with the Queen and saw the determination in them. Realizing that he would win no favour here by forcing her to accompany him Mildrew sighs in thinly veiled frustration before giving Moon a slight nod and leaving her chambers for the War Room.

Moon knew she had angered the man but found that she didn't much care at the moment, more important things were weighing down on her. She turned around and went to pick up the photo of her mother only to stop about halfway. Even though she so desperately wanted to see her mother again, she knew that if she held the photo again she wouldn't leave the room. She was lucky enough to get Lord Mildrew to leave when he did, she wouldn't be able to do it again.

Instead she took one last look around her childhood room. She let her gaze sweep over the entire room, her toys, her books, her dresses. She knew that this would be the last time she was in this room like this. Once she left this room and walked through the doors to the war room it would all change. She wasn't a princess anymore, she was queen now and she'd have to act like it.

Moon's eyes drifted down to the wand she held in her hands. The Butterfly families magical heirloom was light blue with large dark blue wings attached to the grip. The tip of the wand had golden antenna erecting from it making the wand look like a butterfly. Finally between the wings and below the antenna was a diamond jewel in the shape of a moon, the wands heart and source of power.

It had changed shape when she took it from her mom on her fourteenth birthday, the wands ambient magic forming a new appearance to suit the wielder or something like that. It had always made her feel special, knowing that even though every part of her life had been planned before she'd even had the chance to live it, she was different. All the queens before her had such boring and regal wands, all of them being similar to each other despite their differences.

So even if she was to become the queen to early and lead her people through a war, she was her own person. Even though as queen her life was predetermined since birth and most of her choices were made for her before time, Queen Moon of Mewni was unique. She was special.

So with wand in hand and head held high Moon left her room taking the first steps towards her future as ruler of Mewni.

 _'I'll do you proud mom, I promise.'_

-Line Break-

"It wasn't under my orders I swear."

 _Wack!_

"Please you have to believe me, I didn't give the order. It wasn't my f-"

 _Bang!_

"Shut it bub! Save it for your confession."

It was this scene that Moon walked in on. Mina Loveberry, General of Mewni's armies, was standing beside the captured King of Monsters, her fists raised and her eyes furious.

"Mina, what is happening here?"

Mina and all the other war council members turned to her at once, Lord Mildrew, Heckapoo, Rhombulus, Lekmet, Omnitraxus Prime in his crystal ball, Lord Dune and Lord Johansson. Each of the members was sitting around a large wooden table in the centre of the room. At the very end of the table was King Argus, Ruler of the Monsters of Mewni.

"Oh, welcome your majesty. You see we were just 'questioning' King Argus here about what happened with your well, your mom. Uh, my condolences my Queen."

Moon walked towards the group and sat at the head of the table.

"It's quite alright Mina, but what is going on, are you the one responsible for my mothe- the Queens death."

"No your highness. It wasn't on, my orders I swear."

The Monster King plead his innocence to Moon as best he could given his current position. Argus' toad like body had been strapped down to the chair opposite the queen at the far end of the table and his hands chained together with heavy iron shackles. His physical condition wasn't great either, clearly Mina had gotten quite aggressive in her absence, the interrogation resulting in a great many wounds, some of which had clearly been bleeding, some of them still were.

Moon stared him down trying to decide whether or not to believe the captured ruler. She knew it wasn't right but when she looked at him she saw her mother's killer. She saw his injuries and did not feel guilt or sympathy, just the wish that she'd done them herself. She saw his tattered clothes from his capture only regretted not being there to help out. She wanted to hurt him for the death of her mom, she wanted to cause him pain, she wanted to watch him suffer.

Moon felt anger and sorrow bubbling to the surface trying to break free from what little control she had over them. Even so, Moon knew that in the company of the war council on the eve of one of Mewni's greatest battles, the new Queen striking a prisoner without due cause would not have been worth the gratification. So it was with no small amount of difficulty that the queen forced down her own emotions and allowed their prisoner to speak.

"Very well Argus, if not you then who else? What happened to my mother?"

"Oh thank you Queen Moon, thank you so much. As you know Queen Aurora and I had been meeting to discuss peace terms. In exchange for moderate increases in land and minor support from mewman farms and military we would end hostilities with you people. It was mostly set when I announced it to my people, many of which were displeased with the peaceful resolution. Even so it was of great shock to everyone when one of my generals went rogue and attacked the Queen, killing her. I never wanted this Queen Moon, you must believe me. I wanted a peaceful end to this mess I swear it."

With a labored breath Moon sighed before asking as to the identity of her mother's killer.

"Well you see, nobody really knows his name, everyone just refers to him as 'The Lizard'."

The war council turned from the prisoner and looked at each other before many erupted into laughter, the only ones who didn't were Moon, Hekapoo Omnitraxus Prime and Lord Johansson.

"The Lizard? What kind of a name is that."

"This is the creature that overthrew you, you must be joking."

"ENOUGH!" Heckapoo interrupted the laughter with a mighty yell and suddenly there was silence, the mood calmed and the men sobered realising what they had just done.

Before they could start throwing around apologies the queen continued.

"Is there anything you can tell us about 'the Lizard'?"

"I hear he was…" Argus leaned in at this point as if he was scared that the Lizard himself would hear him. "Septarsian."

The room erupted again, only this time in shouts of fear, the Septarsian race being an infamous one.

"If this is true then he can't be killed."

"We can't defeat an immortal, let alone the army."

"This settles it, we must push for a peace treaty. Offer them anything they want short of the castle and be done with it. We can't win in any other way."

"No! We do that and we'll be destroyed. They'll see it as weakness and they'll attack us all the same. They did it before, who's to say that they wouldn't do it again."

"It doesn't matter, we'll offer them a deal so good they'll have to take it."

"And then what? We let them take our homes, our kingdom. We can't just give up everything without a fight."

"A fight we can't win. You'll doom us all."

"We must try."

"Not if it'll just mean avoidable deaths."

Moon just watched as every member argued back and forth, no one able to come to an agreement. The room was split, half were for peace and half were for war. Moon was overwhelmed, every time she went to speak up and regain control of the room the yelling seemed to get louder and more aggressive.

Moon felt way out of her depth and her thoughts wandered back to her mother. Queen Aurora would have kept control of the room with nothing but a gaze, Moon couldn't seem to do it at all. Just as she was about to give up she heard a small voice from the far side of the room.

"Umm, maybe we should let Moon decide, she is the Queen?"

It was Lord Mildrew who was first to speak up.

"Are you kidding River? Moon is in no position to make a decision this big. Her mother has just died and she is too young to make the right choice here. We must look for peace, it's the only way. _Queen_ Moon cannot be the one to make this choice, she's too young, she's not ready."

All the other war council members were stunned at this, though as Moon looked around for support not a single one of them could meet her eyes. _They don't think I'm ready._ ** _Maybe you're not?_** _I have to be._ ** _But you aren't?_**

Moon knew she needed to do something now or else risk losing the faith of her people, whatever small amount of it she had anyway.

"Actually my Lord, River is right, I am the Queen and as the Queen it is my decision that" both sides looked at Moon expectantly each non-verbally begging her to choose them, make peace or fight. "My decision is that… I will make my decision in the morning."

With that the war council disbanded and the now former monster king was taken down to the dungeons and provided with decent clothes and a good meal. Moon began the long walk to her new chambers, her mother's old room that had already been stripped of all her belongins and set up for Moon to stay in.

"Ughh, that was awful. They probably think I'm a joke, the kid Queen not able to command a small group let alone rule an entire kingdom."

"Umm, your highness."

Moon stopped mid step and turned around to greet the Lord who had followed her.

"Yes Lord Johansson."

"It's just River to you Queen Moon, I mean umm you can call me River if you want to, it's what my friends call me, not that were close friends I mean you're the Queen and I'm just a lord an-"

Moon stifled a small giggle at the shorter blonde man's rambling. "Thank you River, I really appreciate you standing up for me in there today. I really needed it and I can't thank you enough for it."

"Oh it was my honour Queen Moon. Ah before you go, I have something I wanted to give to you." River reached into a sack he had wrapped around his wasted and pulled out a griffon leg with the word sorry scratched into its front.

"Umm, River, what is this?" The queens confusion was clear though River could tell she was not disgusted or insulted by the presentation of meat like some would be, simply curious.

"It's apology meat my Queen. It is tradition that a Johansson would present this to anyone he offended. I know that I didn't do anything to upset you, but I thought I could give this to you on behalf of the war council. I hope it's alright." Moon grabbed the meat from him and held delicately in her hands.

"Well thank you River, thank you so much really. And if you wouldn't mind, it's just Moon to you, at least in private." She finished with a smile and a small courtesy to the blushing lord.

River began backing away from the Queen, clearly flustered and slightly sweating while trying his best to fight down the blush on his cheeks. "Oh ah, don't worry about it you know. Any time _pal_."

River turned around now and began to walk quickly away from Moon muttering under his breath. "Oh my gosh, did I just call the Queen pal?"

Moon did giggle at this point finding it hard to contain herself at the lor'ds antics. The Johansson's were an odd lot but they wore their hearts on their sleeves and were incredibly sincere. It made River's words all the more meaningful to the distressed Queen and allowed her a moment of levity in an otherwise traumatic day.

Moon wore a smile on her face all the way back to her new quarters, still thinking about River and how he supported her. She remembered the way his eyes lit up when she accepted his gift and the way he played with his hands when she told him to call her by her first name. All in all he found the young man incredibly cute.

It was these thoughts that dominated her mind even as she walked into her room and fell onto her bed, the war forgotten and her troubles eased. She would have fallen asleep atop of her bed if she hadn't heard the odd, distant sound of crying from the far corner of her room.

Getting up to investigate Moon wondered towards the noise until she recognized the source, 'The Book of Spells.' This meant that the one crying had to be…

"Glossaryk, what's wrong."

The book threw itself open and the pages flickered across from one side to the other until it revealed the little blue magic man at its centre. His tears had pooled up and were now rushing out of the book like a stream dripping onto her bedroom floor before disappearing as if they had never existed at all.

"What do you mean what's wrong. Your mother is dead!"

Moons smile changed into a frown in an instant, all her worries and grief piled back onto her shoulders just as quickly until it felt like they had never left her at all.

"I… I know Glossaryk. But there's nothing we can do for her now. We can only carry on in the way she would want us to."

"Oh I know _*sniff*_ but I really liked her. She didn't deserve to die."

"I know that too Glossaryk, mom deserved a long and happy life. She can't have that now because her future was taken from her buy those monsters that stand at our gates. I need your help to defeat them, for my kingdom and for mom."

"What is _*sniff*_ the problem, why can't your armies take them. They're trained for this you know."

"Well if King Argus is to be believed, then they have at least one Septarsian among them, he's leader now and he's the one that killed mom."

Glossaryk calmed down at this news, his crying mostly stopped and attitude became more civil. "Septarsian, well that is a problem. How did the war council decide to proceed?"

"Well I told them that as Queen I would make the final decision and that I would tell them in the morning."

"So what are **you** going to do?"

"I… I don't know Glossaryk, my mom couldn't beat him in combat so how could I? I don't know if we can fight him off but I'm not sure that they'll leave us alone if we surrender either."

"Well, I'm afraid that I don't know how to kill this Septarsian," Moons face fell when she heard this and tears threatened to leak from her own eyes.

"But there is someone who might and you're not going to like it."

-Line Break-

"She's been frozen for thousands of years, I have no idea what's gonna happen once I let her out"

Rhombulus and Moon walked through the crystal caverns of Mewni's highest security prison created and maintained by the man walking beside the queen. They had been walking for just over an hour into the deepest depths of the caverns where the most dangerous prisoner was being held, the traitorous past ruler of Mewni and Queen of Darkness, Eclipsa the monster lover.

"It doesn't matter Rhombulus, I've gotta do this either way, I can handle this. I have to."

"Alright your highness."

The two continued their walk in silence until they reached a particularly dark area of the prison.

"Rhombulus where are we, I can barely see."

"That means we're here your majesty."

With a flick of his wrist Rhombulus activated the cavern lights, illuminating the room just enough for Moon to see what lay before her. The room was largely a pit, the only ground being a long winding stairway leading to the center of the room. Moon looked down towards the bottom of the cavern but found that she could not see the cave floor. In the center of the room however was their reason for coming, the prisoner they sought.

It was a large pillar of crystal which at the very top stored the evil queen frozen in place and time. Eclipsa hadn't aged a day. Her skin was pale and smooth, her teal hair was still done up in its poofy fashion and her clothes were still immaculate. The only thing missing was her large umbrella wand, it having been confiscated from her once imprisoned.

The two walked the winding path until they reached the pillar, upon which Moon gave Rhombulus the word and he began to free Eclipsa's face and neck allowing her to speak while still heavily restricting her movements. Moon stepped forward once more and, seeing that he was no longer needed, Rhombulus quickly ran from the room, terrified of speaking to the evil woman.

Eclipsa stayed perfectly still before almost five whole minutes and it got to a point where Moon began to think that it hadn't worked and that the woman had somehow died during her imprisonment. Just as Moon went to turn away, the woman before her blinked. It was such a quick movement that she wasn't entirely sure she'd actually seen it.

Then Eclipsa blinked again, more slowly this time, followed by a slight turn of the head and then a large gasp of air. It occurred to Moon that Eclipsa must not have been able to breathe in there. Suddenly the woman started making more frantic movements, her chest was heaving her eyes were darting all over the place and her head was turning to and fro.

It took a moment for Eclipsa to come to her senses, but once she had the difference was spectacular. The woman's back straightened and her face became that classic emotionless mask that many rulers had donned over the centuries. She looked around the cavern before looking down at her own prison. She tried to pull her arms from the crystal but even with her great mewman strength the pillar held strong, only allowing her right hand to be pulled free even if her shoulder length glove stayed in place

Realizing that she would not escape from her 'cell' through brute force she looked straight ahead, finally noticing girl before her for the first time. She noticed the crown on her head and the diamond cheek marks on her face.

"Ahh, my first visitor, and the Queen as well, lucky me." Eclipsa's tone was soft and sweet.

Eclipsa then noticed the bags beneath the girl's eyes, the young features of her face and body and finally the form of her wand. It struck her odd for the Queen to be so youthful…

"But your much too young to be Queen, barely a woman and already possessing the crown, why back in my day that could only mean… Oh no."

It was when Eclipsa looked again, properly this time that she noticed the tear stains on her cheeks, the attempt at a calm facade the girl was putting up, admirable but unsuccessful. She noticed the way that even as she stood tall and strong her wand shook in her hands.

"Oh my dear, your mother is she…"

"My mother is dead. I am the queen now."

"Oh my dear, I am so sorry." Eclipsa felt genuine grief for the girl before her, knowing what it felt like to have lost a mother at such a young age.

"I lost my mother to when I was not much older than you."

"Thank you for that Eclipsa, but I'm here for something. I need your help."

"Anything dear, just tell me what you need."

"The beast that killed my mom, he's leading an army against the kingdom and I have no idea what to do. I have little experience leading and no experience with war. I need to do something now or my kingdom will fall and our people with it. I need you to tell me how to kill something… immortal."

"My dear, are you sure that's what you want? It is very dangerous and dark magic that you seek. This decision is not to be taken lightly."

Moon watched as the woman's face before her changed from a peaceful if somewhat saddened expression to cold and serious in a matter of moments. It was enough to make Moon consider her warning and rethink her plan, but still Moon continued knowing that there was no other conceivable way.

There was no peaceful solution and war would not help them either. They had no allies that were willing to help or that were close enough to help them in time. She needed to take out their leader, remove their spearhead and let the rest of the monsters scatter. She had to kill the Lizard, there was no other way.

Gathering her courage, Moon nodded her head "It must be done, this is what I want. It's what I need to do, regardless of the consequences."

"Very well, but what you want is very powerful magic. It requires a magical contract, one that states that one you this foe is dead, I will receive something in return."

"Alright Eclipsa, what do you want?"

"I want my freedom."

"What, I can't do that. There's no way the other Lords and Ladies would be okay with this."

"Hush my girl, they don't need to know."

"But you're evil, I can't let you free."

"I don't want to cause trouble, truly. All I want is my own freedom, the ability to live out the rest of my life in peace before dying a happy woman. Besides I don't have my wand anymore, it's yours so what trouble could I really cause. And even if I did become a problem well I've been captured before, how hard would it be to catch me again. You could put me right back."

"Well I suppose so but how do I get you out of here without Rhombulus, this crystal is super hard and I'm not sure I can break it without harming you."

"Don't you worry about that, a magical contract between two queens is stronger than any crystal."

Moon knew she had no choice, but even so she couldn't help but wonder whether or not releasing promising Eclipsa's release was such a good idea. Then again she made some good points and she had been nothing but helpful and kind thus far.

"Alright Eclipsa, it's a deal. So how does this work?"

Eclipsa raised her hand to Moons.

"Just shake my hand young Queen and it will done."

Moon hesitated one more time, looking down at the dainty hand before her and the pleasant, smiling face of the woman offering it. Swallowing the fear that was rising in her gut and the odd feeling she felt in her heart, she to raised her hand and grabbed Eclipsa's in her best attempt at a strong grip.

"Yes! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Eclipsa's face changed in an instant, the small smile replace by a mad one and the kindness in her eyes replaced with a fire Moon had not ever seen before.

Then she felt the magic, the pure unbridled power. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, greater than any magic even her mother had ever accomplished. The room lit up in the dark purple glow of the aura now emanating from the prisoner and for the first time since getting here Moon felt genuinely terrified.

Then Moon felt it, the knowledge being imparted into her head. It was weird, feeling more like an instinct than a learnt skill or spell, and yet she knew what she had to do.

The purple light shone so bright that Moon had to close her eyes or else risk going blind and when opened them, all was as it was before. The crystal was frozen over and its prisoner was back in position as if never having been moved.

Despite being incredibly unsettled, Moon left without a word, her mind focused solely on the task to come.

-Line Break-

The air was cold against her skin as she rode beyond the castle gates and to the monsters camps beyond. Despite her armored dress Moon felt incredibly vulnerable as she rode out and into the depths of the enemy ranks. She rode alone, not doing so much as informing the others of her decisions, though she was sure they had seen her leave and were watching her now. It was a miracle that they'd decided not to interfere.

She carried with her only her butterfly wand for protection and a small basket of belongings. She wish she could have taken Glossaryk with her but she knew that he couldn't be with her for this. If she was to gain any respect from her people, the people who doubted her abilities as a monarch and right as a leader. She was the youngest Queen in history and she knew that people would never trust her because of this, not unless she did something drastic to prove her worth.

She and her pig-goat, a magnificent beast and companion that Moon had named Lil' Chauncey, continued beyond the first row of tents and campfires into the depths of the encampment. She kept her eyes looking straight forward and her lips tight even as she passed rack after rack of brutish weapons, a great many of which were stained with red. She passed monster after monster until she reached a point where the monsters had surrounded her, though they gave her a wide berth.

Knowing that she'd make no more progress, Moon stopped Lil' Chauncey and hopped off of his back. She reached into her basket and took out a rug, laying it out evenly on the ground with but a throw. She then grabbed a simple white plate and a knife and fork placing them perfectly on the rug. Finally she grabbed out the apology meat given to her by River, placing it nicely on the plate, sat down and began eating.

"Umm, can we help you?"

Moon took a bite out of the meat, allowing herself one last moment to collect herself, knowing that if she messed up now it was over. The monsters had surrounded her and were clearly wanting blood, the only thing stopping them for the moment was their curiosity.

"I'm here to see your General."

All the monsters gathered began laughing allowed at this. "The General? Ha ha ha ha ha."

Moon kept a perfectly calm face throughout despite the mocking laughter of the army around her. Just as the laughter was beginning to die down and as she was beginning to think she'd made a big mistake, she heard it.

"Silence." The voice was calm and quite but carried over the crowd all the same.

All the monsters turned to the largest tent at the back, a dark grey and brown canvas with skins, horns and bones decorating the outside. The source of the noise revealed itself, pushing apart the curtains to his tent that were, to Moons disgust and horror, made not of cloth but of mewman skulls.

The monster walked towards the center of the group where Moon sat, the crowds making way for their leader as he passed through. His attire was downright intimidating. It was an all black leather with red highlights around the collar and sleeves. He wore thick combat boots and iron gauntlets. Finishing off his armor were shoulder and knee guards made from the bones of poor creatures that had fallen prey to the beast and his armies.

The reptilian monster was intimidating very in his own right, his green skin and incredibly muscled body matched with his perfect posture, well-kept black hair and cold, calculating eyes gave the beast a troubling and frankly scary contrast. It was clear this was no mindless beast but an intelligent being, perhaps more intelligent than herself. This was her mom's killer she was coming face to face with, she would have to be strong.

Throughout all of this Moon just kept eating her meat, doing her best not to give any outward appearance of fear. Judging by the slightly disappointed look the monsters had upon seeing Moon's reaction, she believed she was succeeding.

When the Lizard reached the edge of the group and entered the circle he gave a deep bow, his only words being, "Hello Princess."

Moon disregarded the likely intentional mistake as to her title, believing it best to get straight to the point.

"I presume you're the one they call 'The Lizard.' "

"Yes but you may call me Toffee."

"Toffee? How is that any better?"

Toffee's face looked disappointed by her reaction, likely expecting something more dramatic. Moon refused to oblige him.

"What do you want?"

"I want you and your entire army to leave, or face the consequences." Her tone was harsh and strong, making Moon internally jump at the way she was coming across thus far.

One of Toffee's supporters, a monster that looked alarmingly similar to the leader smirked at this. "Your mom couldn't defeat us and neither can you."

Moon closed her eyes in concentration. "I was hoping you'd say that." She stood up from the ground before grabbing her Butterfly wand and lifting it in front of her opening her eyes ready to cat the spell.

The supporter spoke up again. "Ha ha, pathetic girl. Your weak magic cannot harm us we are immortal," more Septarsians, "watch this."

"No wait, I already know about the-"

Said monster took the sword from his waist and held out his arm chopping it off in one fowl sweep. The discarded limb fell to the ground leaking great amounts of blood. The stump on the other hand immediately started repairing itself and before Moon's eyes bone, muscle and flesh regrew, knitting together until his arm reformed good as knew.

All the monsters cheered at this, their confidence in their leaders and in turn their victory growing by the second.

Moon just stood still a prepared herself. This was the moment that she proved herself worthy. This was the moment where, whether she wanted to or not she would cast away her childhood dreams and desires for the responsibility of being Queen. No longer would she be free to do as she wished, from this point on she would prove herself the rightful Queen of Mewni.

She would give up her freedom for that of her people, so that mewman soldiers would keep their lives and mewman families would keep their homes. This was it, this was her moment, she was ready. Closing her eyes, Moon began.

"I call the darkness unto me, from deepest depths of Earth and Sea." A purple glow formed around Moon's wand while wind began to blow across the open field, softly at first but continued to grow in strength the longer she spoke.

"From ancient evils unawoken, break the one that can't be broken." A dark purple fog appeared before getting caught in the wind and swirling about in the air until it covered everything like an ominous cloud.

"Too Blackest Knight I pledge my soul, and crush my heart to burning coal." This was where the largest change occurred. As Moon felt the magic being pulled from her body and into the wand she also felt a heavy constricting feeling form over her arms starting at her wrists and creeping up to her elbows.

"Too summon forth a deathly power, to see my hate and foe devoured." This was it, the spell was done and her target was in sight.

Toffee, unaware of what was going on, had grown tired during her little display of magic and went to take the wand from the young girl raising his right hand towards the now violently glowing object. "Enough of this."

The spell was complete but just as she went to cast it, Moon opened her eyes and saw what had happened to her arms. The veins had swollen and turned a dark purple as if corrupted. This revelation shocked Moon to her core and when the spell fired she wasn't properly ready for the recoil she would experience.

This meant that when the spell fired it didn't hit Toffee in the heart as intended, instead it angled and hit his finger, severing it from his hand. After this the wind, the mist and the wands glow disappeared in an instant as if never having existed at all.

Toffee looked from the queen to his hand now less a single finger and smirked. "Have you learned nothing?"

All those gathered, Moon and monster alike watched as Toffee focused on his finger re-growing half of the digit before it turned black and fell off again.

Then there was chaos. All the monsters started screaming at the result of the attack on their leader. They had gathered behind him under the impression that he was immortal, but here was proof that he could be defeated and killed as easily as any of them.

It took only a matter of minutes for the once packed camps to clear out leaving behind everything but the men. The tents the fires and the weapons still present, but the people now deserted. Toffee looked at Moon in shock, then looked back at his hand and frowning. He dusted himself off before sending Moon one last glare and leaving the camp.

The monsters were gone.

"Moon, you did it."

Moon turned around to see River running towards her only to throw his arms around her in a great hug as soon as he was within reach.

"Oh my gosh River, thank you." The two reveled in the simple contact t=with one another, Moon finding herself smiling profusely whilst they held each other.

"What did you just do?" Moon looked up to see the gathered members of the war council, all glaring at her. Moon separated herself from River before standing straight to address them.

"I did my job. And as your Queen I will continue to do my job of protecting this kingdom, I will hunt down the remains of the monster army and scatter them without country or leadership." All those present simply stared at the girl before them, shocked at the power and confidence she was displaying given her age.

"Now, are there any questions?" Not a single person spoke against her. "I didn't think so." Moon walked back towards the castle through the group as the war council members stepped aside and bowed their heads towards their Queen, knowing that she had truly taken charge.

It wouldn't be until weeks later when Moon noticed that during the whole ordeal her wands form, once her greatest hope and source of pride to its uniqueness had changed shape to suit its owner. Gone was the dainty butterfly wand with its pretty wings and bright colors, in its place was a short golden wand with a large diamond on the end of it. A proper adult wand just like all the others, Moon's the Girl Queen was gone. Moon the Undaunted had been born.

 **Hey readers. If you've gotten this far you can probably tell by now the angle I'm trying to take with this. Thus far not much has been changed if anything at all but within the ext couple chapters some large alterations will become evident. Don't worry.**

 **I appreciate any and all support provided so thank you to those who decided** **favorite/follow this story/me. My only request be that you guys find the time to write a review. Anything will do be it support or constructive criticism. I want to improve my writing and can only do so with your help. See my page for more info but remember**

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